Washington, D.C.– U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell released the following statement today regarding the President’s call for a tax hike on small businesses and families in the middle of a slowing economy:

“It’s not an accident that the President didn’t explain how his plan to raise taxes on small businesses will create jobs—he can’t say that with a straight face, it simply isn’t true. In fact, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, nearly a million small businesses would feel this tax hike right away, and up to a quarter of the entire American workforce depends on these employers for a paycheck. And since the President himself has previously acknowledged that this kind of tax hike is a drag on the economy, today’s proposal is clearly based on a political calculus, not an economic one. But in the Obama economy, we need policies that are designed to create jobs—not designed to protect his. No one should see an income tax hike next year—not families, not small businesses and other job creators. We should extend all the tax rates while we make progress on fundamental tax reform. And we should be focused on the pro-growth jobs legislation that the House has passed, while ensuring that Washington does no additional harm to an all-too-fragile economy.”